The Topeak-Ergon Racing Team, headlined by two-time cross-country world champion Irina Kalentieva and 2010 marathon world champion Alban Lakata, will ride carbon fiber hardtail and full-suspension bikes from German brand Canyon for the 2011 season.
The team’s quiver includes the Grand Canyon CR hardtail, which is said to weigh just 8.5kg (18.73lb) in team dress, and the Lux MR full-suspension bike. The medium Lux MR frame has a claimed weight of under 1.8kg (3.96lb), which puts complete bike weights just over 9kg (20lb).
Both bikes are built with SRAM’s XX drivetrain, which is supplemented with Magura’s Marta SL Team or MT8 Team brakes. RockShox provide SID World Cup forks and Monarch rear shocks, while Ritchey supply a cockpit comprised of WCS and Superlogic level components.
The whole package rolls on DT Swiss wheels; either the XRC1250 carbon or XM1550 Tricon model. Title sponsors Topeak and Ergon are featured too – the former provide bottle cages and accessories, while the latter supply grips and packs.
Canyon’s bikes have been a familiar sight on the ProTour road circuit, where they’ve garnered a reputation for cutting-edge design – which they offer at surprisingly low prices, due to their online-direct sales structure. They hope to replicate this on the World Cup mountain bike circuit.
The Grand Canyon CF and Lux MR models both sport many of the proprietary designs made popular by Canyon’s road line, including size-specific tube profiles, the patented Maximus seat tube shape and the Double Walled bottom bracket shell.